Author

About the Author /

Co-Founder & Managing Editor at Directors Notes, Rob's 20+ year obsession with short film has led him to develop a unique perspective on the medium. Driven by his curiosity and excitement for emerging filmmaking talent, he's motivated by sharing these exciting new voices with the world.

Brief Somebodies - a short film by Andy Reid

Live Action

Andy Reid Calibrates the Cost of Making Something Honest in His Meta SXSW Short ‘Brief Somebodies’

Andy Reid confronts his own experience of sexual assault by staging a film rehearsal where two actors negotiate the ethical boundaries of depicting trauma.

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Live Action

Natural Selection Comes to Homeroom as Kyle Sims Pits Teacher Against Student in His Wordless Thriller ‘Galapagos’

A snake that wouldn't strike, a craigslist rabbit and a wordless script — Kyle Sims takes us inside his unnerving tale of shifting classroom power dynamics.

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Documentary, Premiere

Jacque Rabie Sets Aside Judgement to Find the Man Inside Japan’s Museum of Sex Dolls in ‘Hyodo’s Paradise’

Jacque Rabie discusses trust, intimacy and confronting his own relationship with sexuality while making a doc about the man behind Japan's museum of sex dolls.

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Live Action

Nathan Xia Interrogates Hollywood Representation and Personal Ego in Satirical Short ‘Flavor of the Month’

What do you do when your values are at odds with your own ambitions? Nathan Xia turns that question into a squirming, darkly comic piece of self-scrutiny.

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Live Action

How Jasper Caverly’s ‘Pleasure’ Challenges Masculinity and Queerness Through Australia’s Eshay Subculture.

Frustrated by insincere, offensive contemporary queer characterizations, Jasper Caverly crafts a visceral portrait of young men wrestling with vulnerability.

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Live Action

David Huang & Albie Smith-Chang on Blurring Reality and Fiction in iPhone Short Film ‘WE BUY GOLD’

David Huang & Albie Smith-Chang on how real locations, heavy improvisation and shooting on iPhone gave their short its authentic, unpredictable feel.

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babyface_sacha_beeley

Animation

How Being an “Extreme Daydreamer” Inspires the Work of Sacha Beeley and Her Short Film ‘Babyface’

With a spoon as its central character, we speak to animator Sacha Beeley about her love of oddball characters and her short film, Babyface.

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Animation, Documentary

Eoin Duffy’s ‘Christine Sinclair: Kind of a Big Deal’ Finds Inspiration in the Quiet Leadership of a Football Icon

Eoin Duffy returns to Directors Notes to discuss meeting the animated challenge of documenting the most prolific goal scorer in international soccer history.

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Animation

Exploring Survival Mechanisms and Resilience in Laurence Thérien’s Annecy-Winning Short Film ‘Ball Face’

Fresh from winning the Cristal for a Graduation Film at the 2026 Annecy Festival, Laurence Thérien joins us to discuss RCA short film 'Ball Face'.

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Animation, Film Festival

10 Short Films that Capture the Spirit of Cardiff Animation Festival 2026

Here are the 10 standout shorts from Cardiff Animation Festival - each one showcasing a distinct and exciting voice in animation.

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Animation, Premiere

Inside Mine! – How Louis Morton’s Short Film Explores Capitalism and its Environmental Impacts

Louis Morton on befriending rats underground, adapting a great-grandpa's tale and the hand-drawn process of unearthing a climate parable in his SXSW animation.

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Film Festival

SXSW 2026 Guide: 14 Emerging Filmmakers You Need to Know

With the SXSW Film Festival here again Directors Notes took a deep dive into this year's line-up and selected 14-filmmakers with bright futures ahead of them.

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